Picture of World’s Longest Traffic Jam in China: Fact Check

Story:

World’s longest traffic jam on the China National Highway 110

Other Versions

The longest traffic jam in the world in Beijing, China.

Fact Check:

The message in circulation online since many years through emails and social media purports to show Picture of World’s Longest Traffic Jam in Beijing, China. The picture allegedly shows China’s National Highway 110 fully congested with automobiles. The claims are false.

About the Picture of ‘World’s Longest Traffic Jam’

The picture in question is not real, it’s a photo-shop creation. The original source image used in editing actually shows Traffic on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, California, taken from Getty Center – not in China. When you observe the picture given below, you can see that the freeway is only about half the width of what is shown in the photo-shopped picture, and it is not that congested. The original photograph was taken by Philip Greenspun back in 1998. So, the claim that the picture shows world’s longest traffic jam in China’s Beijing is a hoax.

Original Photograph of Freeway in Los Angeles

World’s Longest Traffic Jam in China?

China indeed suffered one of the world’s worst and longest traffic jams back in August 2010 on National Highway 110 (G110) and Beijing-Tibet expressway (G6), in Hebei and Inner Mongolia. The traffic jam was 62-mile (nearly 100KM) long and lasted for more than 10 days. Interestingly, the traffic congestion was not caused by any natural disaster or closure. It happened due to increase in traffic, and large group of heavy trucks carrying construction supplies into Beijing. The heavy trucks lacked proper paperwork to avoid quality inspections, and moreover, maintenance work was also going on National Highway 110.

Long Traffic Jam in China in August 2010Long Traffic Jam in China in August 2010

Surprisingly, the traffic jam in China one is not the world’s longest. According to a 2012 article on auto-evolution website autoevolution.com, the longest traffic jam ever happened was on 16 Feb 1980 in France spanning 109 miles (175 km) from Lyon to Paris. The reasons for the massive traffic jam were poor weather conditions and lot of winter vacationers returning to Paris.